Lookers Share Discussion Threads

[chickcrumbs] 19/3/2013 13:49

A nice rerating seems to be afoot.

[chickcrumbs] 15/3/2013 10:32

Motoring along very nicely :-)

[sscrabble] 14/3/2013 18:12

a good end to the week !

[miikke] 12/3/2013 17:23

Comments like that keeping a lid on further progress for a while.

[sscrabble] 11/3/2013 12:38

its up and down a bit - thought I might sell half my holding if it hits £1.00 - anyone think it will ?

[trader_3] 06/3/2013 21:00

Shares Magazine 060313 . Brokers Panmure Gordon upgrade price target to 106p and possible future upgrades as market improves :-



Lookers: a rare retail success

On the back of solid figures from the UK car industry, motor dealer Lookers (LOOK) is the latest example of why the retail sector is not entirely on its knees. Its results are ahead of expectations and its share price, like that of peers including Vertu Motors (VTU:AIM) and Inchcape (INCH), is motoring ahead.
Lookers has revved up 1.8% to 86.25p as its full-year numbers equalled its fourth consecutive year of record results. This triggered a new round of earnings upgrades by the analyst community.

Driven by stronger conditions in the new car market, faster growth in used vehicle sales, steady improvement in after-sales and recovery in Lookers' parts division in the second half, pre-tax profits grew 9% to a £36.8 million. This result was £1 million ahead of consensus. The cash-generative car dealer confidently lifted the full year dividend 8% to 2.35p.

Lookers is benefiting from slowly improving conditions in the UK motor retail market, which grew by 5.3% in 2012, with the company delivering double-digit growth in new and used car volumes and at improved margins, too.

The domestic market is in far better health than the rest of the European Union, where demand has fallen as a result of the sovereign debt crisis with consumers hunkering down amid austerity measures and high unemployment.

Data out to today from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed new car sales rose for the twelfth successive month in the UK in February, bucking the market trend of falling demand across Europe. The SMMT said there were 66,749 new registrations last month, a 7.9% increase over February last year. Lookers is making the most of this uptick, off to a strong start in 2013, continuing to outperform the new retail car market and reporting a healthy order book for the key month of March.

Signs of industry-wide recovery have been reflected in upbeat updates from Lookers' quoted peers too. Last week (1 Mar), Vertu Motors said annual numbers to February would beat forecasts, while Pendragon (PDG) last month (19 Feb) pleased with news of profitable growth for 2012 and a return to the dividend list.

Andy Bruce, Lookers' newly-promoted chief operating officer (COO), says the business is also benefiting from its increasing exposure to the buoyant premium sector. This provides positive read-across to globally-diverse peer Inchcape (INCH) which is set to post full-year figures next week (12 March).

Lookers' dealerships represent marques including Land Rover, Mercedes Benz and Audi, the latter relationship strengthened by last year's (5 Jul) acquisition of Lomond Audi in Scotland. 'Premium is becoming a bigger sector of the market,' insists Bruce, 'and this is where the bigger margins are.' Given Lookers' strong operational cash flow and low gearing of 24%, the company is well placed to swoop for strategic acquisitions in both the motor and parts divisions. 'We've always got a few irons in the fire,' assures Bruce.

Following Lookers' numbers, Panmure Gordon has raised its price target from 90p to 106p and is sticking with its 'buy' recommendation on the stock. 'We are upgrading our 2013E and 2014E forecasts to take account of the higher run rate in the business at present,' writes the broker, 'with scope for further upgrades if markets continue to recover.'

Solid media recognition for this undervalued stock . share price should re-rate further from here .

[jaf111] 06/3/2013 17:53

Yep Trader_3 that sums it up pretty well. Four successive years of increased profits in this industry / economy is pretty impressive and certainly justifies a share price over £1.

[trader_3] 06/3/2013 17:30

Strong breakout today and more to come IMO due to following :-

- Significant increase in PBT
- Low level of net debt
- Strong cash balance
- Acquisitions made and more to come
- Outlook 'ahead of expectations' in Q1
- Stable and improving sector
- Diversification through after market sales
- Experienced , focused and ambitious BOD
- Due a re-rating versus peer group

Can and should break the 100p mark in the short term .

[jaf111] 06/3/2013 11:21

A very muted response to the figures....but finally the market has woken up....now 87p and hopefully mor to come.....

[jaf111] 06/3/2013 08:20

Very satisfactory results imo......

* Another strong trading performance in 2012 and we have now had four successive years of increased profits

* Strong balance sheet where despite significant spending on acquisitions, the level of gearing has been maintained at a low level of 24% compared to 20% last year

* New financial year has started well with the group making further progress with results so far being ahead of both budget and the prior year. We are therefore confident that we are well placed to deliver future growth.

[jaf111] 05/3/2013 16:18

Roaring back after an unexpected fall Monday......roll on tomorrow!!!!

[8mp] 04/3/2013 13:22

Tree shake possibly ahead of results on 6th??

[jaf111] 03/3/2013 18:26

Very much looking forward to results on Wednesday....Lookers continues to outperform in an improving market....whilst share price has done well it has underperformed compared with Pendragon, so I am expecting (hoping) that the share price will move up further.

Fingers crossed!

[chickcrumbs] 26/2/2013 10:06

My only blue share today. It's been a good run of late, wonder if results will keep it going. PE still attractive in my view, so I'm holding for now.

[this_is_me] 07/2/2013 13:51

New car sales well up last month.

[this_is_me] 28/1/2013 16:37

It is starting to look good for a move to close to £1.

[chickcrumbs] 28/1/2013 11:33

looking good today :)

[ed 123] 22/1/2013 16:44

My view fwiw - Likely it's just catching up others in the sector.

18 months or so on, Lookers share price is above the reduced level that Treffick and party were prepared to offer to buy the whole company. I'm very pleased that the directors didn't recommend acceptance. 70p/80p would have been too low for me,too.

(Jack Petchey sold out for 66p in September 2012.)

[sscrabble] 22/1/2013 15:23

sudden rise?

[bigbertie] 07/1/2013 10:41

Agreed, the SMMT says new car sales up again in December, making 5.3% rise for 2012. The big increase was private sales, while fleet sales dropped slightly. IMHO this should be good for Lookers, and hopefully fleet sales will pick up too when the economy starts to get a bit healthier. Good luck all.

[this_is_me] 04/1/2013 08:10

Must be due another leg up.